William Parsons and Mary Ann Stone

Barnstaple railway station
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Roger Cornfoot - geograph.org.uk/p/4256317

Mary Ann Stone, fourth daughter of Frederick James Stone and Loveday Jane Land, married William Parsons (b. 4 Jul 1882), son of John Parsons and Emma Burrows, at St Peter’s Church, Uplowman, on 19 Apr 1906, just weeks before her elder sister, Bessie Ann married there. Witnesses were the bride's father, Frederick James Stone and James Parsons, the groom's elder brother.

John Parsons was a carpenter in Bampton, where William was baptised on 30 Jul 1882 and, in 1891, lived at the Turnpike Gate Home, North Hayne, Bampton. William's father, John, died in 1894 and his brother James moved back home to support their widowed mother and grandmother. In 1901, William Parsons was employed as a Stockman on farm at Mill Head, Bampton, but by the time of his marriage in 1906, he'd become a Railway Platelayer, residing in Landkey.

William and Mary Ann had two children: 

1. William James Parsons born Q4 1906
2. Olive Mary Parsons born Q1 1908

In 1911, William Parsons (28) Railway Platelayer, Mary Ann (24), William James (4) and Olive Mary (3) were living at 2 Abyssinia Terrace, Barnstaple.

Unable to locate any of them on the 1939 census, I haven't [yet] been able to identify William's death. There is a record of a death of a Mary Parsons of roughly the right age, in Barnstaple, in 1966, but neither is this confirmed.

James Beamer and Mary Jane Snell

Old Toll House, Briton Street, Bampton
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Milestone Society - geograph.org.uk/p/6114414

James Beamer, son of James Beamer and Rose Anna Smith, younger brother of Alfred Beamer and half-brother of Loveday Jane Land and John Land, formed a family with Mary Jane Snell - that's the maiden name listed on several of their children's birth registrations - but [so far] I've been unable to find a record of their marriage. Mary Jane is listed as being from Plymouth. 

James and Mary Jane had at least seven children:

1. Mary Jane Beamer born Q2 1884 in Tiverton, mother's maiden name SNELL. (Died and was buried, on 13 Apr 1884, in Bampton.)
2. Ethel Anna Beamer (no civil reg), bap. 26 Apr 1885 in Bampton.
3. (Unnamed male child) Beamer born Q3 1886 in Tiverton, mother's maiden name SNELL. (Died in the same quarter, age 0.)
4. Sarah Jane Beamer born Q3 1887 in Tiverton, mother's name SMALE
5. Tom Beamer born Q3 1890 in Tiverton, mother's maiden name listed as SUELL. Bap. 3 Aug 1890 in Bampton.
6. Rosanna Beamer born Q1 1893 in Tiverton, mother's maiden name SNELL. Bap. as Rose Anna Beamer, on 30 Apr 1893, in Bampton. (Died, aged 16 months and was buried, on 22 Aug 1894, in Bampton.)
7. Mary Ann Beamer registered Q1 1896 in Tiverton, mother's maiden name listed as SNELL. Bap. 29 Dec 1895 in Bampton. (Died in Q2 1901, aged 5. Buried on 27 Apr 1901 in Bampton.)

There could, of course, be other births that I've missed, particularly given the number of discrepancies in the information, such as the mother's maiden name, which I attribute to either errors in transcription, or registrars writing down what they heard, that the parents probably couldn't have read to check.

Ethel Ann Beamer (3) "British King" from Liverpool

This curious record appeared in my searches for this family and relates to an Ethel Ann Beamer, age 3, sailing on the "SS British King" from Liverpool, arriving in Philadelphia on 29 May 1888. Their intended destination was Chicago. Taken alone, I'd have ignored this and assumed that this was another Ethel Ann Beamer entirely. HOWEVER, in the box at the top right, it says "Accompanied by" Sarah Jane 8 months and Mary Jane 30, both of which fit. I've also found an equivalent record for Sarah Jane and both children appear on the passenger list, along with Mary Jane. It's hard to imagine them being able to afford to go to the US - and come back again - but equally hard to imagine the combination of those three names and ages cropping up together more than once. It's a mystery.

In 1891, James Beamer (39) Agricultural Labourer, wife Mary (35), Ethel A (6), Sarah J (3) and Tom (0), were living in Briton Street, Bampton. 

On 16 Oct 1894, James and Mary Beamer were both charged and bailed, accused of "Wilfully neglecting Rose Anna Beamer, a girl under the age of 16 years, to wit, 16 months, in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering and injury to health, at Bampton, on 15 August 1894, and on various other dates." They were found not guilty and acquitted. Was their crime being poor? 

In 1901, James Beamer (48) General Labourer, Mary Jane (42), Ethel (15), Tom (9) and Mary A (5), were living on the Tiverton Road, Bampton. Daughter, Sarah Jane (14), was employed as a General domestic servant, in the household of Henry Early, Watchmaker and jeweller, at 12, Angel Hill, Tiverton. 

Ethel Ann Beamer married William David Cappell on 24 Apr 1907, in Bampton.

Then in 1911, we find the family has "emigrated" to Wales. James Beamer (53) from Bampton, Devon is employed as a Coal miner hewer and is living at 4 Price Street, Pentre in the Rhondda Valley, Glamorganshire with Mary (49), Tom (20) also working as a Coal miner hewer; Ethel Cappell (25), William Cappell (25) Son-in-law, and grandchildren, William (3) and Ethel (1).

They returned to England, as Mary Beamer died, aged 70, in 1927 in Taunton, Somerset. Then James Beamer died, in 1931, aged 77, also in Taunton. (William and Ethel Cappell lived in Rowford, Cheddon Fitzpaine, Taunton in 1939, but I could find no further records for Sarah Jane after 1901 or Tom after 1911.)

4 Price Street, Pentre in the Rhondda Valley

James Land and Rose Anna Beamer

Church of St Michael and All Angels, Bampton

cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Rob Purvis - geograph.org.uk/p/6807505

James Land, widower, married Rose Anna Beamer, widow, on 19 Apr 1863 at the Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels in Bampton, Devon. 

James Land (b. 1828) was the son of John Land, Labourer, and in 1841, aged 13, was in his father's household at Gate Street, West, Bampton. His mother's given name was Loveday, born 1804 in Rackenford, Devon. I haven't been able to find a record of his parents' marriage, but the only relevant baptism that year in Rackenford, is for a Loveday Flew. If correct, this is the same Flew family of Rackenford that my 2x great-grandmother, Jane Middleton, married into. 

In 1851, James (23) was still at home, unmarried. But by 1861, James (32) was living as a Lodger in the household of Ann Beamer (38) from Norton, Somerset, along with four of her children: Mary (10), Alfred (8), James (6) and Lindy (2). 

The only one of those children for whom I can find a civil registration is James Beamer in 1855, which confirms that Rose Anna's maiden name was Smith. 

At the time of her marriage to James Land, Rose Anna Beamer had given her father's name as Isaac Smith, Labourer. I've found a record of a baptism on 1 Feb 1824 for a Mary Smith, daughter of Isaac and Hannah Smith at All Saints, Norton Fitzwarren, who may have been her sister.

James Land, therefore, must have been both married and widowed between the 1851 and 1861 censuses. There is a marriage of a James Land to a Jane Flew in 1854 and the death of a Jane Land, aged 30, in 1856, which, by process of elimination, looks like it might relate. They were probably cousins. 

Yes, the family tree of my Devon ancestors would be in the form of a circle. Or as 'him indoors' says, a very complicated monkey puzzle tree! LOL

Beamer is a surname found in Clayhanger right back to the 1600s and probably still. In 1851 there was a James Beamer (58), who's a likely in-law.

With a two year old in 1861, one might assume that Rose Anna (Ann) had only fairly recently been widowed, but the only record of a death that may potentially be that of her husband - I haven't [yet] been able to find a record of this earlier marriage, but son Alfred Beamer's marriage gives his father's name as James Beamer - is that for a James Beamer, aged 37, in the last quarter of 1854. That would make James Beamer, born 1855, a posthumous child. Although, it would make Lindy Beamer the child of another liaison. Not exactly unheard of. 

John and Rose Anna had at least three further children together: 

1. George Land Beamer born Q4 1862 (died Q1 1863, aged 0)
2. Loveday Jane Land born 1864, in Bampton, Devon
3. John Land born 3 Feb 1866, in Stoodleigh, Devon

John Land, aged approximately 90, died in 1866. This age would fit with James' father and would explain why he named his son John in the same quarter.

In 1871, in High Street, Bampton, we find James Land (41) and Rosannah (46), with just Loveday J (7) and John (5). Not one of Rose Anna's previous family are living with their mother. It's not the first time I've seen a first family "disappear" when their parent remarries either. Rose Anna's daughter, Mary (b. 1850), I've been unable to find any further mention of; Alfred Bimmer (sic) (19) was working as a [Farm] Servant for Thomas Chave in Morebath; James Beamer (16) Masons Labourer was lodging, with Henry Beamer (21) Ag Lab, elsewhere in Bampton; there are no other records at all of Lindy Beamer (b. 1859).

In 1881, at Westbrook Cottage, Bampton, at a guess, on Westbrook Farm (PDF), were James Land (54) Ag Lab; Ann Land (58); Jane Land (18) Domestic (Out of Service) - just given birth; John Land (16) Gen Labourer; Henry Beames (sic) (8) Grandson and Rosana Land (0) Granddaughter. 

Loveday Jane Land married Frederick James Stone on 10 Oct 1881.

James Land died, aged 56, in the first quarter of 1884.

There is a death of a Rose Anne Land in 1889, with her age estimated as 40. This would be a 20 year discrepancy, if typical lie about a woman's age. 

Entrance, Fort Stamford
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © N Chadwick - geograph.org.uk/p/5626178

In 1891, John Land (24) was a Private in the Royal Marines Light Infantry at Fort Stamford, Plymstock, Devon. He enlisted on 3 Jan 1885, served for 21 years until Jan 1906 and then again in 1914-15. That latter period, mostly, at Plymouth Division, but from 12 Sep - 3 Dec 1914, on HMS Jupiter: 

When World War I broke out in August 1914, Jupiter was transferred to the 7th Battle Squadron of the Channel Fleet. During this service, she covered the passage of the British Expeditionary Force from England to France in September 1914. In late October 1914, Jupiter was reassigned to serve alongside her sister ship Majestic as a guard ship at the Nore. On 3 November 1914, Jupiter and Majestic left the Nore and relieved their sister ships Hannibal and Magnificent of guard ship duty on the Humber. In December 1914, Jupiter moved on to guard ship duty on the Tyne.

Interestingly, on his Marines Record, John describes his sister Loveday Jane's daughter, Rose Anna Southwood (née Land) as his sister, whereas she was his niece. This might suggest that the illegitimate child was brought up by her grandparents long enough for him to consider her as such.

In 1911, John Land (45) Horse Man on Farm had been boarding with his niece (who he considered a sister) Rose Anna (30) and her husband, William Henry Southwood (34) at Chieflowman Cottage, Uplowman.

John does not marry and I cannot be sure of when he died.